Towel holder

ABSTRACT

A towel holder serving as well as an identification tag and for displaying advertising. The towel holder is provided with a resilient membrane having at least one resilient flap cooperating with a compression member between which the towel is passed when stowed, to securely hold the towel against dislodgement during a round of golf.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to golf accessories. In particular, thisinvention relates to a towel holder that also serves as a golfidentification tag.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

During a round of golf players traverse a course of 9 or 18 holes with aset of golf clubs carried in a golf bag. The golf bag holds not only thegolf clubs, but also accessories used during the game of golf, such asgolf balls, golf tees, and a towel for cleaning the golf balls and clubheads. The towel is usually slung through a towel ring or buckle affixedto the outside of the golf bag, for easy access during play.

Many private golf courses provide identification tags for their members.The identification tag typically displays the name of the golf course,the name of the member, and a membership number. The tag is securelyaffixed to the outside of the member's golf bag and is large enough toallow golf course personnel to readily identify the member's golf fromstorage and the members on the course, for security reasons.

The towel is usually securely affixed to the bag and very difficult toremove easily and quickly, even though it must be removed from itsholder and replaced many times over the course of a round of golf. Beingsubjected to considerable jostling as the golf bag is transported acrossthe grounds, the towel is subject to inadvertent dislodgement from itsholder, and therefore the towel is securely affixed to the golf bag.

Also, the towel is most conveniently carried on the most accessibleposition on the golf bag, but the most accessible position for the towelis also the most exposed position and therefore ideal for mounting theidentification tag. However, storing the towel near the identificationtag can conceal the tag and therefore reduce its effectiveness as asecurity feature. Members may tend to hang the identification tag on thetowel ring 4 of the golf bag 2, and thus obscure the identification tagwhen there is a towel in the towel ring, which reduces the efficacy ofsecurity at the golf course.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a towelholder serving as well as an identification tag. The towel holder in thepreferred embodiment displays all of the information required by thegolf course, but in addition provides space for advertising andpromotional messages that can be placed by the golf course or anyauthorized sponsor.

The towel holder is provided with a resilient membrane having at leastone opposed flap cooperating with a compression member between which thetowel is passed when stowed. This securely holds the towel againstdislodgement during a round of golf, but effectively allows the golferto access the towel during play by easily and quickly removing the towelfrom the holder of the invention.

The towel holder of the present invention thus provides all of thebenefits of an identification tag and allows the tag and the towel to beaffixed to the most accessible part of the golf bag, while ensuring thatthe member's identifying information is not obscured by the towel. Atthe same time, the towel holder holds the towel securely againstdislodgement through whatever jostling motion the golf bag may besubjected to over the course of a round of golf, but also beconveniently available to the golfer for easy removal.

The additional space on the frame surrounding the towel holding portionprovides an opportunity for the golf course to earn revenues throughhosting tournaments and corporate events by providing a golf productthat ensures that members see the advertising indicia every time theyreach for their towel, resulting in successive “impressions” whichincrease the members' awareness of and familiarity with the advertisedproduct or service.

The present invention thus provides a towel holder, comprising a frameand at least one resilient flap supported within the frame in oppositionto a compression member, the flap being disposed substantially withinthe same plane as the compression point and there being a first spacingtherebetween in a rest position, whereby when a towel is insertedbetween the resilient flap and the compression member the flap flexes inthe direction of insertion of the towel and compresses the towel againstthe compression member to trap the towel in the towel holder.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In drawings which illustrate by way of example only a preferredembodiment of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the golf towel holder of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the towel holder of FIG. 1, the oppositeside being a mirror image thereof.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the towel holder of FIG. 1, the oppositeside mirror image thereof.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the towelholder.

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the towel holder of FIG. 4, the oppositeside being a mirror image thereof.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the towel holder of FIG. 4, the oppositeside being a mirror image thereof.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the manner of mounting a towelholder of the invention to a towel ring on a golf bag.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional side elevation of the towel holder of FIG.7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a golf bag showing the towel holdermounted thereto.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the manner of insertion of thetowel into the towel holder.

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional side elevation showing the towel lodged inthe towel holder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The towel holder 10 of the invention comprises a resilient portion forholding a towel 6, as described in greater detail below, and arigidified portion forming a frame for holding the resilient portion andproviding one or more surfaces upon which indicia can be displayed. Theindicia would typically include the information that would be applied toan identifying tag, including the name of the golf course, a memberidentification number assigned to the member by the golf course, andoptionally the name of the member. The indicia can also includeadvertising or promotional indicia, which may be represented in the formof a golf tournament or corporate event.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the rigidifiedportion of the towel holder 10 comprises a rigid frame 20, preferablycomprising mating frame halves 22 and 24. The frame halves 22, 24 may bemanufactured in any suitable fashion and out of any suitable material,for example molded from plastic. The frame 20 does not need to becompletely rigid, as long as it is more rigid than the resilientmembrane 32, and thus can be manufactured from a flexible material aslong as it is designed for greater rigidity than the resilient membrane32, described below. The frame 20 comprises various surfaces of theframe halves 22 and 24 upon which indicia may be displayed, includingadvertising panel 26, and also a strap bight or slot 28 and towelopening 30.

Sandwiched between the frame halves 22, 24 is a resilient membrane 32.The frame halves 22, 24 are bonded together over the resilient membrane32 to thus retain the resilient membrane 32 securely in place, asillustrated in FIG. 8. A towel holder 34 formed by a portion of theresilient membrane 32 is thus exposed through the towel opening 30 inthe frame halves 22, 24. The towel holder 34 comprises at least tworesilient flaps 36 disposed in opposition to one another. The flaps 36lie substantially within the same plane and are spaced apart by a firstspacing, which spacing increases when a towel 6 is disposed through thetowel holder 34. In the preferred embodiment this is accomplished byproviding at least one slit or opening 36 a, preferably a pair oforthogonal slits 36 a and 36 b which form four resilient flaps 36 forsecurely holding the towel 6.

In use, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 a strap 8 or other tying member may befed through the strap slot 28 to secure the frame 20 to the towel ring 4(or other convenient part) of the golf bag 2. The towel holder 10 isthus suspended from the towel ring 4, as illustrated in FIG. 11. In analternative embodiment it is also possible to affix the towel holderaccessory 10 directly to the golf bag, either by inserting the towelring 4 through the strap slot 28 before mounting it to the golf bag 2,or in any other suitable fashion. However, it is beneficial to be ableto remove the towel holder 10 from the golf bag 2, since golfmemberships change over time, membership systems change over time, andthe golf course may wish to change sponsors or advertising from time totime. The towel holder 10 of the invention could be affixed to a golfbag 2 at the time of manufacture, or could alternatively be affixed toor manufactured as part of a golf power cart or golf pull cart (notshown).

The user inserts a towel in to the slits in the towel holder portion 34of the membrane 32, as shown in FIG. 10. The resilient flaps 36 createdby the slits 36 a, 36 b grasp the towel 6 as shown in FIG. 11, andprevent its dislodgement, because when flexed by the towel 6 the tips ofthe flaps 36 create a pair of opposed compression points that cooperateto grasp and hold the towel 6 securely in position. When jostled duringmovement of the golf bag 2 the weight of the towel 6 tends to pullagainst the direction of the flaps 36, and the frictional force of thetowel 6 against the flaps 36 causes the flaps 36 to compress even harderagainst the towel 6, thereby increasing the resistance of the membrane32 to dislodgement of the towel 6.

The towel 36 will remain lodged between the flaps 36 until sufficientforce is applied to the towel 6 to overcome the resistance of the flaps36, referred to herein as the “inversion threshold,” and thuseffectively invert the flaps 36 so that they extend in the direction ofthe hanging portion of the towel 6. After the flaps 36 have been soinverted, only frictional forces hold the towel 6 between the flaps 36and the towel 6 can be readily removed from the towel holder 34 withlittle additional force.

The towel 6 is thus securely held by the resilient flaps 36, and at thesame time because the position of the towel holder portion 34 of themembrane 32 is fixed within the frame 20, indicia (including identifyingindicia and any advertising or promotional indicia) always remainsunobscured by the towel 6.

In a further embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6,the rigidified portion surrounding the towel holder comprises a unitaryrigid plastic frame 40 having a strap slot 42 and a towel holder 44comprising a resilient membrane 32. In this embodiment the resilientmembrane 32 is cut to the shape of the towel holder 44 and bondeddirectly to the frame 40 using any suitable adhesive or other method.The towel holder 46 in this embodiment has slits 36 a, 36 b as in theprevious embodiment, to produce resilient flaps 36, and operates in thesame fashion as the previous embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated athickened peripheral side edge 52 is provided, which further rigiditiesthe frame 40 (the frame 40 may be composed of a flexible material, aslong as it is more rigid than the resilient membrane 32), and alsoprovides a side face upon which indicia can be printed. As in theprevious embodiment, the tips of the resilient flaps 36 provide opposedcompression points which trap the towel 6, the resistance todislodgement of the towel 6 thus increasing as the pulling force on thetowel increases (for example as the golf bag is jostled duringmovement), up to the inversion threshold.

To remove the towel the user simply needs to pull the towel hard enoughto reach the inversion threshold, and thereby overcome the resistance ofthe resilient flaps 36 against removal of the towel 6, which will theninvert and allow the towel 6 to slip easily out of the towel holder 34.The resilient flaps 36 return to their rest position, which issubstantially coplanar with one another, when the towel 6 is removed.

It is possible to provide spaces between the resilient flaps 36 that arelarger than the slits 36 a, 36 b. It is also possible to provide onlytwo opposed resilient flaps 36 in order to accomplish the function ofproviding cooperating compression points which trap a towel 6 insertedthere between. It is even possible to provide a single resilient flap 36in opposition to a rigid (i.e. substantially inflexible) member, whichwill serve the same function of providing a set of opposed compressionpoints for holding a towel 6. However, it has been found that providingfour flaps 36 defined by orthogonal slits 36 a, 36 b, which may be diestamped or otherwise cut into the resilient membrane 32, is advantageousfor both ease of manufacturing and maximum resistance to dislodgement.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 the advertising panel 26 isflush with the portion of the frame 20 surrounding the towel holder 34.It is also possible to recess the advertising panel 26, as in theembodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, or to raise the surface of the frame20 (not shown) to draw attention to the advertising.

Various embodiments of the present invention having been thus describedin detail by way of example, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that variations and modifications may be made without departing fromthe invention. The invention includes all such variations andmodifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A towel holder, comprising a frame, and at least one resilient flapsupported within the frame in opposition to a compression member, theflap being disposed substantially within the same plane as thecompression point and there being a first spacing therebetween in a restposition, whereby when a towel is inserted between the resilient flapand the compression member the flap flexes in the direction of insertionof the towel and compresses the towel against the compression member totrap the towel in the towel holder.
 2. The towel holder of claim 1wherein the compression member is a resilient flap, and when a towel isinserted between the resilient flaps both flaps flex in the direction ofinsertion of the towel and trap the towel in the towel holder.
 3. Thetowel holder of claim 2 wherein the frame provides at least one exposedsurface for the application of indicia.
 4. The towel holder of claim 3wherein two pairs of opposed flaps are created by providing a pair ofsubstantially orthogonal slits through a resilient membrane.
 5. Thetowel holder of claim 4 wherein the frame is composed of two framehalves and the resilient membrane is disposed between the frame halves.6. The towel holder of claim 4 wherein the frame is formed as a singlepiece and resilient membrane is affixed to an opening in the frame. 7.The towel holder of claim 6 wherein a peripheral edge of the frame isthickened to provide a side face for the application of indicia.
 8. Agolf bag comprising the towel holder of claim
 1. 9. A golf power cartcomprising the towel holder of claim
 1. 10. A golf pull cart comprisingthe towel holder of claim 1.